The Missed Time
by Lily Hanson
Summary: Oneshot that follows Mr. Snuggles and the Alternate Life - Emily's happy with her childhood. She had parents who loved her, an amazing older sister, and she knows that her past has turned her into the person she is now. But that doesn't mean her life was perfect.


Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

* * *

Today felt like a god day for Mia. She had gotten a restful sleep in Kevin's arms that night for the first time in a long time. Since she and Mike had made up, she had noticed her relationship with Kevin had started sailing in the right direction. With less tension in the house, everything seemed so much easier to deal with and all the issues from before seemed so little. Kevin had actually been the one to initiate the cuddling, and hadn't wanted to stop, leading himself to falling asleep hugging Mia and a big smile on his face.

Just as she was finishing what had been a great breakfast, she heard a loud slam. It made her jump and she turned around to see what had caused the slam that startled her.

"Emily?"

"You didn't think I would find these, did you?" Emily was pointing to the book that was on the table and had caused the slamming sound as it was dropped. Mia gulped. She knew that book.

"You were too cute…"

"Has anyone seen these?"

Mia shook her head, "Not yet, but what does it matter. You were so adorable, Emy, I couldn't help myself!"

"I know," Emily picked up the book and hugged it to her chest not because it was dear to her, but because she didn't want anyone else seeing it, especially the boys. They were still teasing her for her baby talk. They didn't need to see all the pictures Mia had taken of little Emily in the different dresses and costumes, most of which were princess dresses, but Mia had dug up a few silly costumes as well. Symbol Power was a blessing and a curse.

"Seriously, Emy, you were the cutest little baby. The clothes just made you cuter."

"And the hours you spent doing my hair? I felt like I was being prepped for Toddlers and Tiaras!"

"I never really got that experience before, Emily. It was fun for me. And when you were two, you enjoyed it," Mia took the book from Emily and opened it up, showing her the pictures, "See that smile? You told me you felt pretty. You loved all the attention from me."

"I loved Wena," Emily sat at the table and huffed, "You were crazy Auntie Mia."

"Kids love crazy," Mia chuckled and sat beside her little sister, "I know you know I mostly did this for myself. It was fun having a real live dolly for a bit, and playing that mommy-auntie role, but in part, I did this for you too. Two was a difficult time for you, wasn't it…?"

"Shh," Emily hushed Mia and looked around the room to make sure Serena wasn't around. Though she had enjoyed her childhood and had just admitted to Serena that she wouldn't trade it for anything else because it had brought her here, there were some things that had been hard to deal with – some things Serena didn't even know.

Mia knew them now, though. Mia hadn't just been dressing Emily up. The two girls had talked quite a bit, and blabber mouth, toddler, Emily had said a few things adult Emily never would have said. She trusted Mia never to repeat them, but secrets always had a habit of slipping out.

"You said you were starting to like the Shiba House because Serena was spending more time with you. Care to elaborate on that?"

Emily looked down at her hands nervously, "She never once neglected me, you know."

"I know," Mia nodded her head. "I didn't say she was a bad sister. But even the best make a few bad moves."

"Mom had just gotten back from the war when I was two, so I barely knew her. Dad spent his days working on the farm to provide for us and for the city, and with mom back, Serena was training even harder to be the yellow Ranger. I spent a lot of time by myself when I was two. I wasn't unhappy, though. It was just a lot to get used to. Serena basically went from being my mom and being there for me whenever I needed her, to too busy to…"

"Play dress up with you during the day."

Emily bit her lip and nodded. Mia reached out and took her hand, "Emy, I know how you feel. I went through it twice."

"You did?"

Mia smiled, "Once after my grandfather died. It was during our parents' war and I was living with him and my grandmother. After her passed away, Sobo suddenly had to do everything around the house, from cooking, to cleaning, to getting the groceries, to picking me up at school and training me. When I wanted a little time to play with her, she was normally too busy. It was an adjustment period for both of us. She and my grandfather used to share everything. Suddenly, it was all on her. For the first time in over thirty years, she was all on her own, and on top of that, she had a little six year old running around the house. Trust me, that's work."

"And the other time?"

"Right after it was decided I would live with grandmother. There was a lot of paperwork to be done, a lot of moving furniture around, fixing up dates every month and times every week for me to spent time with my parents. All that, plus suddenly finding herself with a child again in her… advanced age, and raising that kid without my grandfather's help was going to be hard. Figuring it all out took a lot of her time, and I kind of got pushed aside while she tried to… well, deal with me."

Mia put her hand on Emily's shoulder and squeezed it gently, "Luckily for me, I figured out pretty quickly that my grandmother was doing all that work because she loved me more than I could ever imagine, and I still had her at nights. That routine never changed. She would make me a bedtime snack, then I would take my bath, we would cuddle up for story time and she would read me tale after tale about princesses finding their true love and their happy ending. Then, she would tuck me in, give me a kiss goodnight, and the last words I would hear every day, right up until I left for the Shiba House, was _I love you, princess._"

Emily's chin quivered as she looked at Mia with the puppy eyes. She was trying to hold back her tears, but she couldn't. She threw her arms around Mia's neck and hugged her tight.

"Aw, Mia! You're going to make me cry!"

Mia laughed and hugged the yellow Ranger, "You're probably going to insist that what happened when you were two doesn't bother you anymore, but trust me, Serena's always loved you like Sobo loves me, and it was painfully obvious when you were back to your two year old self. She would spend hours watching you play, and a couple nights I had to drag her out of your room because she didn't want to let you go, even though you had fallen asleep hours before I came in. If you need any more proof Serena loved you, look at your nails."

Emily looked down at her hands and noticed they were still painted yellow and pink from when Serena taught her a trick to putting her shoes on the right feet. She smirked a little bit.

"Yeah. Serena came up with that trick after years of me struggling with my left and right."

"Everyone got a little something out of the child-Nighlok," Mia smiled. "Jayden and Antonio got an extra week together as kids, and Jayden actually got to be a real boy for a bit. Same with Kevin, he got to let loose for a week. You got to spend some extra time with your sister before all the drama of bullying, her illness, and the Samurai life started. With two sisters, actually. I was the one playing dress up with you."

Emily flipped through the photos in the book with a warm smile, "Yeah, that was pretty cool. I did feel pretty, and I did feel special."

"Of course you did. Princesses are always pretty and special," Mia kissed Emily's cheek, "And one more thing: fiercely protective."

"Huh?"

"You probably know this, but the reason Serena spent so much time training was to protect you."

"I know."

"I just thought it would help," Mia wrapped her arms around Emily's shoulders and gave her a squeeze before squealing in her ear and pointing to a picture, "AW! That's my favourite one!"

Emily rubbed her ear with one hand and grabbed the book with the other, "OW! Okay, I'm burning this book."

"No, wait, Emily! You were just so cute!"

"No. No one can ever see these pictures, and you need to forget they exist. You're way too… creepy."

"Please, Emy! At least let me keep a few pictures!"

"No!"

"Please!" Mia wrapped her arms around Emily's waist, "I need them! Who knows if I'll ever see my dream of having a daughter come true? You might be the only daughter I ever have."

"Tough luck. Let me go."

"Five pictures that I keep stashed away in my room somewhere not even Kevin will ever find, and I get to play dolly with your daughters even if I have my own."

"No!"

Mia lifted Emily off the floor so she couldn't get away, "I think you're under the impression this is negotiable."

Emily kicked her feet, but Mia was strong. After spending nearly a week running after and lifting children, she had the strength to keep Emily lifted in the air for quite a while. Emily sighed and held out the book. Mia set her down and grabbed the book.

"I'll pick my favourites, and then study them and pray your kids look more like you than Mike. Actually, I pray they take after you and not Mike."

"Why?"

"Just… keep your kids away from mannequins," Mia gave Emily a pat on the back and then started to leave the kitchen with the entire book. Emily looked a little puzzled for a moment, until she saw Mia was gone with all the pictures, not just five.

"Mia! That's not fair!" she crossed her arms over her chest and huffed loudly, "Stupid Nighlok. Stupid little me. I hate being the cute one."

Emily stomped her feet as she walked out after Mia. At that moment, from around the corner, Serena finally stepped out into the kitchen. Emily had her back turned and didn't see that the entire time, Serena had been within earshot.

Now Serena was very confused. She had just had a talk with her sister about her childhood, and Emily had assured her she was happy. But now Emily had just finished a conversation with Mia, telling the pink Ranger all about how she felt – Emily hadn't wanted to use the word neglected – but Serena knew it was the right word to use. She had let Emily down. As big sister, and as a mother figure for a time in Emily's childhood, Serena knew it was her responsibility to make Emily a top priority. No matter what, Emily's happiness, her health, and her safety were supposed to come first. No child should ever have to feel the way Emily felt.

"There has to be a way to win," Serena whispered to herself. She knew she needed to find a way to keep Emily as who she was, just without the pain, the pressure, the loss… all that bad stuff that Serena blamed herself for. Forgetting about her hunger for a moment, Serena walked to the common room and looked to the bookshelf. Her eyes fell on Scruffy's urn and she sighed. Scruffy… another thing that could be blamed on her. He died to protect her.

Serena picked out the book of symbols – the more advanced copy. These were filled with symbols that Jayden wasn't even ready to use without serious repercussions, but Serena was ready to try anything. Emily had given up so much for her: her education, her life, her precious dog. The least Serena could do was give Emily something back.

She found the symbol that would do just that, but it was going to take time to master it. If Serena worked hard enough after hours, she could learn it within a matter of weeks – days if she pushed herself really hard. She had always been talented when it came to learning symbols. Her mother always told her she had a lot of power.

It was going to take some time, but Emily had waited her entire life for things to start going right. She could wait a couple more weeks.


End file.
